BLEEDING KANSAS GRAVELDURO

Bleeding Kansas: Common phrase referring to the series of violent confrontations (border war) in the United States between 1854 and 1861. These "confrontations" emerged from a political debate over the legality of slavery in the proposed state of Kansas. Characterized by years of raids and retributive murders carried out by rival factions of anti-slavery "Free-Staters" in Kansas and pro-slavery "Border Ruffians" in neighboring Missouri.